Hooks: Dead in Thay

This world is full of dangers and treasures, stories that are just waiting to be told and legends that want to be created. There are days where the Yawning Portal is home to all of these, and then there are days like this one.

Today, a bald and robed man entered the tavern just prior to lunch time. His face was a mass of scars and his mouth was little more than an angry slash across his face, but his coin was good enough. He threw back pint after pint, giving a toothless grin whenever someone asked him if he wanted food. He wasn’t rude, just off-putting in the same way that a shaved cat can be. He would occasionally commit strange, arcane sigils to some scraps of parchment that he kept in his boot cuff as the hours ticked by. Other patrons came and went, and this strange fellow barely seemed to take notice of them at all.

As the evening rolled on and the tavern filled up with its usual complement of rowdy do-gooders, occasional ne’er-do-wells, drunken louts and thrill-seeking young royals the tiefling finally gathered his wits about him. He clambered up on top of his table and produced a small hand-harp from some hidden vest pocket, coughed for attention, and sang an upbeat, energized tune in a voice that could only be described as angelic – if angels could be heard speaking as they rolled head-over-feet down a flight of stairs:

“Fire in the Bloodgate!
Fire in the Thaymount site
Fire in the Bloodgate!
Fire in the gates of Hell!

Don’t you want to know why we keep starting fires?
It’s his desire, It’s his desire, It’s his desire

Don’t you want to know why we keep starting fires?
It’s his desire, It’s his desire, It’s his desire

Danger! Danger! Lich knowledge!
When they touch, When they assist
Danger! Danger! Lich knowledge!
When they touch, when they assist
When we touch

Danger! Danger! Lich knowledge!
When they touch, When they assist
Danger! Danger! Lich knowledge!
When they touch, when they assist
When they touch, when they assist

Don’t you want to know why we keep starting fires?
It’s his desire, It’s his desire

Don’t you want to know why we keep starting fires?
It’s his desire, It’s his desire

Danger! Danger! Lich knowledge!
When we touch, When they assist
Danger! Danger! Lich knowledge!
When we touch, when they assist
When we touch

Danger! Danger! Lich knowledge!
When we touch, When they assist
Danger! Danger! Lich knowledge!
When we touch, when they assist
When we touch, when they assist

No more

Fire in the Bloodgate!
Fire in the Bloodgate!
Fire in the Thaymount site!
Fire in the Bloodgate!
Fire in the Bloodgate!
Fire in the gates of Hell!”

Upon completion of the tune, the bard averted his gaze and stared once more at the floor. He slowly clambered down from the tabletop and shuffled towards the bar. I didn’t quite know what to make of him, and judging by the stunned silence in the room neither did anyone else. After a few moments some scattered applause went up but by and large the patrons chuckled off the event and returned to their conversations.

The bard sidled up next to my stool and slid up to the bar. With little more than a grunt he ordered a mug from Durnan, and as he slurped it down I realized two things: first, that his lips were simply an angry slash made of scars; and second, that he was speaking to me between gurgled swallows.

“You wanna know how I got this face?” he spat it out. I was fairly certain that it didn’t matter how I responded because he was just going to tell me anyhow.

“Thayans. Thayan rebels, if you can believe that; there are Red Wizards that don’t think the other Red Wizards are Red Wizardly enough. I made the mistake of being in their presence out in Daggerdale – you know, on the River Tesh and west of the Moonsea, and they saw fit to use me for their own purposes. Did you know that some of them hate with such passion that it becomes like music? Like dance.

They have a keep – Bloodgate Keep – and plans to use their nexus of portals to assault Thay itself. Imagine that: Red Wizards seeking to unleash magical hell on other Red Wizards. This won’t end will, will it? But the nexus of portals… they said it was the lich’s will, that it was divine and blessed, that it was the smartest choice. They said a lot of things, like how this vault of theirs contains phylacteries – a dozen of ’em, maybe more. Even holds the most unholy of them all, and I think you know that I mean Szass Tam himself, dread lord of the Thaymount.

As you might imagine I didn’t wish to be there, so I made good my escape when they stopped paying attention to me. At least, I thought it was escape. Turns out that it was planned. A cruel trick, but from Red Wizards it is no surprise. Their leader, Syranna, made it clear that the verbal abuses I suffered for my ‘sins upon music itself’ would pale in comparison to what the lich himself has planned for Faerun.

I don’t know. I just want to play my harp.

Spot me a drink?”

I plunked down two gold pieces and nodded at Durnan. Daggerdale was a good journey from here, but the possibility of Thayan rebels – and a treasure trove of phylacteries! – was just too juicy to pass up.

I left immediately, but not before accepting that a journey to Daggerdale and potentially into Thay itself might well be the last journey I would ever undertake. Ah well, what good can I do from a bar stool?

Spoilers below!

For the DM:

For the DM:

Unlike the rest of Tales from the Yawning Portal, the Dead in Thay adventure was part of the 5th Edition playtest and was originally designed to take place near Daggerford (initially, with a very early move to Thay), so no significant modifications from the early text are needed

this adventure runs best with four or five characters at level 9, but AL play allows for tables of 3-7 players of levels 5-10 (tier 2)

the Doomvault map is split into 9 sectors, each with a different theme; this provides an easy “jumping off” point if you only have two or three hours of potential playtime with your group each week

as time is of the essence while inside the Doomvault, be sure to remind the characters of the risks they are taking when they rest or leave the dungeon (“Resting” and “Alert Level”, p. 113)

be sure to carefully review the restrictions on magic use while inside the Doomvault (“Dimensional Barriers”, p. 110)

Red Wizards can speak, see, and sense through any dread warriors that they have created – this can help create some great roleplay moments and scenes with the characters

the fiendish skulls (p. 152) can bestow curses; these curses last until the character receives a remove curse spell

If a character is raised as soul-bound undead, they are immediately retired from Adventurers League play if they leave the Doomvault. Only by destroying Kazit Gul (and thus, the Doomvault) or receiving a wish spell can this effect be ended; not even true resurrection can wrest the adventurer’s soul from Szass Tam’s terrible grasp

‘reduced threat creatures’. be sure to read this section on p.113 carefully!

Random encounters. This adventure has the potential for a lot of random encounters. It would be helpful to pregenerate a dozen or so of these encounters so that when they happen, play is not interrupted and you can quickly deploy the encounter for the characters.

Lycanthropy. Refer to the standard Adventurers League rules regarding lycanthropy if a character becomes infected. In short: it it’s not removed at the end of the adventure, or if the character chooses to play a different adventure before curing it, that character is immediately retired from AL play until the lycanthropy is removed.

Magic items.

Despite the suggestion on p. 115, magic items cannot be added to creatures, encounters, or rooms unless the adventure specifically states that such an object exists here. Dread Warriors carry javelins or melee weapons (simple or martial) as their ‘+1 weapon’ unless specifically noted otherwise.

This adventure can potentially give a large number of spell scrolls to the characters – it’s a great chance to stock up on utility spells like detect magic and comprehend languages, which are useful at all levels of play

Lahnis wears a ring of protection and is very reluctant to get rid of it. If the characters have earned his trust, he might be convinced to turn it over – this is DM’s prerogative, though.

Ooze prods are not considered to be permanent magical items for the purposes of D&D Adventurers League play

Cursed items. Cursed items are a part of D&D history and often serve a purpose in the story. However, some players might be disappointed and view this as a ‘gotcha’ moment – tread carefully. Unless the item’s description specifically states otherwise, the characters can cast identify on it (or use a downtime spellcasting activity!) and learn the item’s properties, including the curse. Once a cursed item is taken by a character and recorded on their logsheet, a remove curse spell only removes the attunement (“de-attunes” from the character) and does not undo the curse.

Thinking outside the box:

Thinking outside the box:

with tables of 6-7 players, consider some ways to increase the scope of the adventure and keep everyone entertained

increase the size of the maps to 10′ squares instead of the normal 5′ square

add 1-2 additional monsters to each combat

the Doomvault is a powerful location in the Thayan political structure. What happens if the characters perform certain acts here? How will this affect your other Adventurers League games (such as the motivations of the Zulkir that is visiting Mulmaster)?

some of the other creatures in the Doomvault seek to accomplish similar goals and tasks as the characters – perhaps this is a chance to turn enemies into erstwhile allies. Roleplay, as far as they eye can see!

prior to beginning play, consider asking your players if their chosen characters have peacefully interacted with Red Wizards in the past (Hoard of the Dragon Queen, Rise of Tiamat, and several season 2 adventures provide opportunities for this – as well as others!)

if a character has chosen to be raised as soul-bound undead, are they aware of the ramifications of leaving the Doomvault? Make sure that they know that playing an adventure other than Dead in Thay between sessions counts as ‘leaving the Doomvault’!

Hailing from the wilds of central Michigan, Alan has provided a warm home to a wife and two cats over the years.Of course, they all have to fight with the ever-expanding collection of beholder-related paraphernalia - and the recent arrival of his son.

Hailing from the wilds of central Michigan, Alan has provided a warm home to a wife and two cats over the years. Of course, they all have to fight with the ever-expanding collection of beholder-related paraphernalia - and the recent arrival of his son.